


Woman's Work

by eerian_sadow



Series: Embassy Town [1]
Category: Transformers (Bay Movies), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Galentine's exchange, Gen, giftfic, mentions of discrimination against women
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-21
Updated: 2014-02-21
Packaged: 2018-01-13 07:24:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1217536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eerian_sadow/pseuds/eerian_sadow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Out in the desert, Mikaela chases her dream.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Woman's Work

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).



> Buster Witwicky is an actual G1 person (see the TF Wiki), but i took some liberties with his characterization from what’s presented in Marvel G1.
> 
> written for Thousanth during the 2014 Galentine's exchange on dreamwidth.

There was an old ghost town inside the borders of the stretch of California and Nevada desert that the United States government had ceded to the Autobots to create the Cybertronian embassy. Inside that old ghost town was an ancient mechanic’s garage, likely built in the 1920s, when the world seemed like it was never going to get worse than it had and abandoned when the Great War came in the Forties. The interior was a shambles, but the old building itself had stood the test of time and desert and was sturdy enough.

“Mikaela, are you certain this is where you wish to base your business?” Optimus asked as they looked at the old shop.

“I’m sure. I like the design, and renovating it with a lift will probably be cheaper than a whole new building.” She turned around and smiled up at him. “It reminds me of home, but without the baggage. And, if this is where you’re going to build the NEST family housing then it’s perfect. Civilians need mechanics just as much as Autobots.”

“It is not too close to Tranquility? I do not wish for your new life to be burdened by the old.”

“I’m not moving away from Tranquility because of my past, Optimus. I’m moving because my opportunities are better with you guys. There aren’t a lot of places that will take on a female mechanic, let alone give her a chance to open her own shop. This is what i’ve dreamed of my whole life, and you’re giving it to me.”

“I am grateful that the revenue we have generated from the asteroid mining project will be beneficial to you. However, I understood that our financial support was in the form of a loan, not a gift?”

“That’s because it is.” Mikaela’s smile widened. “But the fact that you and your financial team said yes to the loan is a gift. Every bank I tried denied me because i’m a woman.”

“That is a concept i find difficult to grasp. You are a more capable mechanic than many of the military specialists we have worked with, and you passed your business classes with excellent scores. Should that not be all that is required?”

“In a perfect world, yes. But you know us humans: far from perfect.”

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

The team Mikaela hired to renovate her building finished it before the rest of the town was really even started. None of the old homes had survived desert life as well as her old brick and cinder block shop--though there had been some structural damage that needed repaired--and they had all needed to be torn down before any construction on the new housing could begin. 

She felt good--really good--about being the first official business open in Embassy Town, and she set out the “Now Open, Travelers Welcome” sign on the curb with a sense of great satisfaction. Finally, she had something that was _hers_ , without any of her father’s baggage and no one to hold her back.

Sam could show up on her doorstep and not even that would be able to bring her down.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Bumblebee, of course, was her first customer. She had been repairing minor dents and dings for him since they’d known each other, and he preferred her cosmetic work to Ratchet’s because she had a better eye for paint application.

He took her out for celebratory ice cream after she closed up shop the first night, leaving Cybertronian territory completely and sneaking into Tranquility to take her to the shop she’d always gone to with her dad. The Autobot even paid for her treat, wirelessly and before she could even get her debit card out of her wallet.

The taste of the rocky road was as sweet as the feeling of putting the “open” sign out had been.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

“Thank you for taking her, Mikaela.” Sarah Lennox handed over Annabelle’s backpack. “I don’t know how we would get moved in today without you.”

“It’s no problem. I’ll even make sure to wear her out so she sleeps the whole night.” The mechanic grinned. “Anything special I need to know?”

“Thankfully, no. Annie is a perfectly well adjusted military seven year old.” Sarah smiled ruefully. “She’ll ask a million questions and will want to know everything you’re doing, and want to help.”

“Normal kid stuff, then. She can’t be too much worse than my cousin’s kids, and I had them over last weekend.”

“Mik, you’d be _amazed_ at the trouble she can find.” the older woman leaned around Mikaela to give her daughter a stern look. “Annabelle Lennox, you do _not_ climb on other people’s cars without permission.”

“Sorry, Mama,” The girl said, sliding down off the Taurus currently sitting in the bay.

“We’ll be fine,” Mikaela assured Sarah. “You and Will go get moved in. I’ll bring her over around eight.”

“All right. See you around eight.”

“Give Ironhide my love,” The younger woman said as the elder turned to leave.

Once Sarah was out of sight, Annabelle turned to Mikaela. “Can I watch TV?”

“I don’t have a TV, kiddo.” The mechanic set the backpack on the stool she kept in front of her work bench. “I have Netflix on the computer if you really want to watch something, but I thought maybe you’d like to work on cars with me.”

“Daddy doesn’t let me work on cars.”

“Daddy doesn’t let you work on cars, or doesn’t let you work on cars _with him_?” Mikaela asked, wanting to clarify the point.

“Doesn’t let me work with him!” Annabelle brightened as soon as she realized the mechanic’s point. “But he lets me help Uncle Bobby!”

“So now you can help me, too. Want to learn how to change spark plugs?”

“Yes, please!”

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

 

Mikaela hoped she didn’t look too nervous as she stepped out of the repair bay and into the windowed room she used as her office. She had been on plenty of interviews over the years, but she had never needed to give one before.

But, with the way business had picked up, she needed the help.

“Sorry to have kept you waiting, Mister Witwicky.” Mikaela gave the blond man seated in front of her desk a smile. “You walked in just as I pulled the drain plug on that oil pan.”

“It’s all right ma’am.” The applicant gave her a shy smile. “It wasn’t long at all.”

The mechanic walked around her desk and sat down. “I’ve looked over your resume and your credentials, and you look like you could be an asset to the shop. I just have a few questions for you.”

“Fire away,” he replied.

She nodded, and decided to get the hard question out of the way first. “If I hire you, are you going to have problems working under a female crew chief?”

“No, ma’am. Not as long as you’re not going to have problems with a gay guy being part of the crew.”

The “business” smile she was wearing widened and turned into something more real. “That won’t be a problem. Why did you apply for this position? A lot of facilities would be fighting for a mechanic with your credentials.”

“I have family out this way and the benefit package was good.”

Mikaela paused. “Are you related to the Tranquility Witwickies?”

“Ron’s my uncle,” the blond replied. “Is that going to be a problem?”

“No. I just know your uncle’s family.” She desperately hoped that Ron and Judy--or worse, Sam--wouldn’t appear on her doorstep soon and cause problems. “I only have two more questions.”

“All right.”

 

“When can you start? Because I can use you tomorrow.” Interviews usually took more, she knew, but Robert Witwicky was giving her a good feeling.

“I can start as soon as I stow my gear at the hotel.”

The young woman couldn’t hide her relief. There were six cars lined up for oil changes--all friends of the Lennox’s and she loved them for the business--and two others that needed engine work parked outside. “Today is good for me, too. What name should I put on your tag?”

“Buster’s just fine, ma’am. The guys in my unit called me that for so long i’m not sure i’d remember to answer to Robert.”

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Mikaela Banes stood out in the cool night air and stared up at the stars. They’d be harder to see once Embassy Town’s street lights were all active, but for now they twinkled brightly and brought a smile to her face.

Once upon a time, a very young girl named Mikaela had looked up and wished for her own place to fix cars like her daddy. “Thanks, whoever was listening. It’s perfect.”

Then, one year and sixteen hours since the sign had first been put out, she turned and picked up the “Now Open” sign and carried it inside. The shop wasn’t very far in the black, but they would declare a profit their first year in business--and she could still shoot Optimus for forgiving half her loan, but it had been his birthday present to her--and that was nothing to sneeze at.

Buster greeted her from the desk with a smile and a beer lifted in salute. “Here’s to a great year and a great boss. Congratulations, Mik.”


End file.
